Longtime Career Youth Development administrator James Nelson Sr. has left the agency after the completion of a new investigation into an allegation he sexually harassed an intern.

Elizabeth Coggs, who became executive director of the agency in March, said Wednesday that Nelson's employment had been terminated and that "the parting of the ways was amicable."

She said Nelson, who had worked at the agency for 29 years and was a top assistant to the agency's late founder, Jeannetta Robinson, was not given a financial package or settlement and that he had not retired.

Nelson could not be reached for comment.

In March, turmoil arose when Eva Spencer, who had been executive director of the nonprofit agency for just six weeks, and three board members resigned after the board failed on a 4-4 vote to terminate Nelson.

The vote came after Spencer presented the results of an investigation she had conducted into allegations of sexual harassment brought by a young CYD intern.

Spencer said her investigation found that there had been two previous allegations of sexual harassment against Nelson, including a complaint in 2008 with the state Department of Workforce Development that was eventually dismissed.

The report was not made public. No criminal complaint was filed in connection with any of the allegations.

After the failed vote to terminate Nelson, board chair Barbara Franks, an assistant district attorney in Dane County; attorney Sam Hall; and Marquette University law student Brandon Wigley resigned and left the meeting. Photographer Cy White, who has been on the board for 38 years, voted for termination but did not resign.

Spencer said she resigned because of "the board's unwillingness to terminate an employee against whom, I believe, there were credible allegations of sexual harassment."

Margaret Gutter, a longtime board member said: "We did what we thought Jeannetta Robinson would want us to do in supporting Mr. Nelson and any staff worker. We handled it the way Jeannetta would want us to handle it."

Morris Brazil, another longtime board member, called for an independent investigation.

State Rep. Leon Young (D-Milwaukee), a board member and cousin of Coggs, said additional information had come to light that required another investigation.

The board hired Krukowski & Costello, an employment and labor law firm, to investigate the allegations anew, Coggs said.

Nelson was suspended without pay pending the outcome of that investigation.

Coggs would not discuss the findings of the investigation or the recommendations made, citing attorney-client privilege.

Coggs said that going forward, the agency will work on providing staff with information on ethical behavior, including rules on sexual harassment and also provide professional development.

"We don't want anyone to feel pressured," she said.

The agency has been suffering from financial and management issues, including a turnover of executive directors. Coggs is the fourth director in the last year of the agency that works with the poor in the central city.

"We've been putting out fires and now we're trying to stabilize the agency," Coggs said.

She said she is now the permanent executive director, making $60,000 a year. A former county board supervisor and state legislator, Coggs said she will not run for office in order to concentrate on her new job.